With the Pentagon already implementing President Bush’s broadly opposed plan to expand the US fighting force in Iraq, critics are calling on Congress to stop the escalation. But Democratic lawmakers are divided on whether to wield their "power of the purse" and curb or cut the war budget, leaving some to downplay Congress’s ability to take concrete action. A few lawmakers are pushing legislation that would limit military spending on Iraq or explicitly narrow the president’s leeway to deploy more troops. Representative John Murtha (D–Pennsylvania), a member of the House Appropriations Committee who voted to authorize the Iraq war in 2002, said he plans to try placing restrictions on military expansion in upcoming "emergency" military-funding bills. Federal allocations related to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have already exceeded $500 billion. Senator Ted Kennedy (D–Massachusetts), who voted against the authorization, has already introduced legislation that ... http://newstandardnews.net

The White House said on Tuesday a planned congressional resolution against President George W. Bush's U.S. troop increase in Iraq could send a signal to the world that America is divided on the war.Bush's "new way forward" for Iraq unveiled last week has faced heavy criticism from Democrats and skepticism -- if not outright opposition -- from many in the president's own Republican party.Plans are underway in both the House of Representatives and Senate for non-binding resolutions rejecting Bush's plans to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq to help secure Baghdad and the restive Anbar province."Does this send a signal that the United States is divided on the key element of success in Iraq?" White House spokesman Tony Snow said lawmakers needed to ask themselves....http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16245270.htm

Public confidence in the way George W. Bush is handling the coalition effort increased slightly in the United States after his recent address to the nation, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 29 per cent of respondents think their president has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq. When asked if the Democrats in Congress have a defined strategy for Iraq, only 21 per cent of respondents believe they do, down four points in a week. The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,024 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 22,800 troops have been wounded in action. In December 2005, Iraqi voters renewed their National Assembly. In May 2006, Shiite United Iraqi Alliance member Nouri al-Maliki officially took over as prime minister....http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14410

To pay for World War II, Americans bought savings bonds and put extra notches in their belts. President Harry Truman raised taxes and cut nonmilitary spending to pay for the Korean conflict. During Vietnam, the US raised taxes but still watched deficits soar. But to pay for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US has used its credit card, counting on the Chinese and other foreign buyers of its debt to pay the bills. Now, as President Bush is promising to boost the number of troops in Iraq, there is increased scrutiny over how the US is going to pay for it all. The US is spending about $10 billion a month on Iraq and Afghanistan. By the end of this year, the total funds appropriated will be nearly $600 billion – approaching the amount spent on the Vietnam or Korean wars, when adjusted for inflation. However, the actual impact of the war on the economy is different than in the past, largely because the US economy is so much bigger now. ...http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0116/p01s01-usfp.html

Power lines were down, highways were treacherous and spring-like temperatures were only a memory Tuesday in parts of the Northeast in the wake of the storm that earlier had plastered the Midwest and Plains with a heavy shell of ice. The death toll from the storm was at least 46 in seven states. The weight of the ice snapped tree limbs, shorted out transformers and made power lines sag, knocking out current to about 145,000 customers in New York state and New Hampshire on Monday, though service had been restored for roughly half of them by Tuesday morning. "If you live here long enough, you just know the power's going to go out twice a year, at least. You don't worry about it," said Scott Towne, owner of Rondac Pet Services near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where portable generators provided light and heat for about two-dozen dogs. "You make all the plans in advance that you can." ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/16/national/main2360225.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2360225

Two civilians thwarted an attempted terrorist attack Tuesday when a vehicle loaded with explosives attempted to crash through the front gate of a U.S. base in the Afghan capital, according to the U.S. military.The two men, an interpreter and a security guard, dragged the apparent suicide bomber from the vehicle before he could detonate explosives, said Col. Tom Collins, the chief spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan."I think it's a pretty amazing and heroic event," Collins said.He said that at about 9 a.m. Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET Monday) a driver crashed his vehicle into Camp Phoenix, the base where the Afghan National Army and police are trained. The driver reached for what appeared to be a cord to detonate a bomb, he said. ...http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/16/afghanistan.terrorist/index.html?eref=rss_world